FAS

New Publications Received

11.16.09 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

A new law review article argues that government secrets can be usefully distinguished in terms of “depth”– i.e. “how many people know of their existence, what sorts of people know, how much they know, and how soon they know…. Attending to the depth of state secrets can make a variety of conceptual and practical contributions to the debate on their usage. The deep/shallow distinction provides a vocabulary and an analytic framework with which to describe, assess, and compare secrets, without having to judge what they conceal.”  See “Deep Secrecy” by David Pozen, Stanford Law Review, forthcoming.

A new book revisits the case of Frank Olson, the Army biochemist who fell to his death in 1953 after having been unwittingly dosed with LSD in a CIA experiment.  “A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments” by H.P. Albarelli Jr. was published this month by TrineDay, which says it “specializes in releasing books that are shunned by mainstream publishers due to their controversial nature.”

Closed child welfare hearings in the District of Columbia Family Court should be opened up, argued law professor Matthew I. Fraidin in recent testimony before the D.C. Council.  Open hearings would promote improved protection for the children, increased professionalism by the adult participants, and greater accountability all around, he said.  See “Opening Child Welfare Proceedings in the Family Court of the District of Columbia,” November 4, 2009.

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Emerging Technology
day one project
Issue Brief
Winning the Next Phase of the Chip War

Familiar semiconductor policy approaches – export controls and subsidies – are inadequate alone to prevent reliance on Chinese-made legacy chips. Washington and its allies will instead have to turn  to the old-fashioned, disruptive tools of trade defense in the face of a challenge of this scale.  

02.06.25 | 0 min read
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Environment
Press release
Position on the Wildfire Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act of 2025

The Wildfire Intelligence Center would bring together expertise at all levels of government to give our firefighters and first responders access to cutting-edge tools and the decision support they need to confront this growing crisis.

02.06.25 | 1 min read
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Clean Energy
Blog
Energy Dominance (Already) Starts at the DOE

DOE is already very well set up to pursue an energy dominance agenda for America. There’s simply no need to waste time conducting a large-scale agency reorganization.

02.05.25 | 7 min read
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Government Capacity
Press release
Federation of American Scientists and Environmental Policy Innovation Center Unveil Permitting Tech and Talent Policy Recommendations to Support Deployment of Crucial Energy, Environmental, and Infrastructure Projects

FAS today released permitting policy recommendations to improve talent and technology in the federal permitting process. These recommendations will address the sometimes years-long bottlenecks that prevent implementation of crucial projects, from energy to transportation.

02.05.25 | 4 min read
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